Hanchett Block - Beloit, WI
N 42° 29.930 W 089° 02.145
16T E 332724 N 4707171
On October 1, 1859, Abraham Lincoln addressed the citizens of Beloit in the meeting hall on the second floor of this building. The building is located at 307 State St. in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Waymark Code: WM2GQQ
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 11/01/2007
Views: 19
From "The Beloit Daily News" (October 24, 1922) as shown on the Wisconsin Historical Society web site:
"The Hanchett-McKey block is one of Beloit's most treasured historic spots. It was in the upper hall of this building, then the largest public hall available in the city, and newly constructed, that Abraham Lincoln addressed the citizens of the frontier town of Beloit, enunciating the principles of freedom in the great issue of slavery.
In commemoration of this event and the appearance of the martyred emancipator in Beloit, the building now bears a memorial bronze tablet, placed there through the efforts of the Beloit chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The tablet announces the date of the address, Oct. 1, 1859.
...
For several decades after its erection the Hanchett block, with its hall in the second story, was the center of lodge and civic meetings in Beloit. The early Hiberians used it. When erected it was in the center of the business district which extended from about the present location of St. Paul tracks to the Goodwin block along Turtle (now State) street. A full story taller than its neighbors and at the important corner, it was the dominating business building."